Marc

A steel strop will hold out longer than a rope, but its not cut proof, thats the point me thinks, say its caught on a peg and you don't notice it then there is a good chance you will cut through your strop, but the steel should give a distinct feeling through the saw and hopefully give you fair warning. Another reason why you should keep your life line level with your knees I think its important, to make it clear, that no safety kits will give 100% protection, its a combination of good working practice and the protection. As for those Lavoro am I the only one who does'nt have a problem with it? If your not paying attention to the bar or your positioning you will get a bite. The fibeglass toe caps should give you a chance at noticing. Imagine no toe cap!!!!

You got any Lavoro's going cheap, size 44?

cool vid, I wonder if I look that gay in my Hi-flex trousers?

I don't think any boot has protection in the toe (other than caps), or heel area. Its just the front portion which is covered. And I think those boots are not the only ones with a fibreglass toe caps. Maybe the design needs re thinking on all boots?

Those boots are designed to be light weight are they not? Part of there design is a fibreglass toe cap, its not the only boot with this type of toe cap I believe, its both lighter and cooler. Go at a pair of Hi-flex with a 66 full bore, its very possible to get through the protection, do you want to go back to wear 12 layer ballistics? And why not protection up your arms and neck while we are at, I know of some guys getting kick back injuries in these areas. Then there rolling logs and crushing injuries, there is no protection against these other than toe caps. There are a million and one ways to hurt yourself in this job, some very stupid. I don't think a freak accident like cutting through a fibreglass toes cap is a major concern. Maybe i'm wrong.

Well put, I pay good money for my kit so I don't want to damage it, and the way I look at it is just because I have ppe on is no reason to get complacent. And the other way I look at it is, I know my kit is not rated to save me from the full force of powerfull saws, only to lessen there impact!!!! Just the way I know if I hit my steel core lanyard full bore i'll be able to cut through it. Same with my ropes, and if a big enough log hits me on the head not even the best military grade kevlar helmet is going to save me. PPE is not fool proof, its there to give a basic minimum of protection, the best form of protection is safe working! Be safe all.

The problem is? So from that vid am I to understand that I must not let the groundie near my boots with a saw at full revs? Sorry about the guy who cut his toe an all, but sh!t happens.

Of course they do its the oppostie side to the side your looking at.

Its o.k as long as you spike the back of the tree so no one can see it.

I think footlocking is good, but there are other ways, I was thinking off trying srt using mechanical methods, but I need to research it further. When i'm at the Capel Arb show this year i'm going to look into it.

My guilt has eased, everyone can stop buying tickets now.

I always liked those depth/raker gauges on those guides, but not so keen on the cutter guide. My only tip is this: I always like to keep my cutters accurate, I have a verneer to help with this, if your cutters are accurate than filing the rakers is easier. Using the the raker gauge eye how much you need to remove, take away the gauge and run the file across put the gauge back to check, usually 1 stroke is enough, sometimes you need 1 1/2 or 2. Then just do 1 stroke on each. I use the gauge only to check i'm taking enough off, I don't file with it in place. Depth gauges only take me a minute to do, providing everything else is accurate its easy. Also very important is dressing the bar, i've had saws severly bannana on me with new chains and what looks like a new bar (poorly sharpen'd chains will run to one side and wear the rails), if the rails are uneven it'll never cut straight. And if you don't sort it soon you'll wear the groove then the bar is scrap.

I might be wrong here, but different chains work best with rakers filed flat, Stihl for example their raker wear marker is flat and when you file the rakers you want to keep parrell to this. Husqvarna and oregon are best done at an angle, there raker gauges are set to do this, just as Stihl raker gauges are set to do them flat. Husky/oregon gauges also have different settings for soft or hard wood.

I was kinda hoping no one else would buy tickets as it would give me a better chance of bagging the loot. Now I feel guilty, so go on buy a ticket to help ease my guilt.

Whilst I do agree with you Lee, I think Tony has a good point to, if the tree are reaching their life expectancy in an urban area, then the budget would best be spent on felling and replacment, rather than other remedial work, from a council stand point?? In a park setting I think your approach is more suited to save specimen trees. Just my opinion. And about the reductions, I can understand reducing those that were near trees that have been removed, as they are now open to stress they haven't grown or adapted to, but it looks like all were reduced, which must of meant more cost, and being that they are stressed by leaf miner and bleeding canker reduction can't be a good thing. The money would of been better spent trying out something like Lee suggested. Again just thinking out loud.

Also if the saw is a little blunt, then sharpen it, its far easier to sharpen a slightly dull saw than a totally f'ing munted saw. DON'T BE LAZY, just cause it kinda cuts o.k does'nt make it o.k.

I don't like to slag off other peoples work, and besides it looks like the at least half the foliage area has been left intact, which looks good to me.

A vice sure makes it easier, in the field a vice is not always to hand, so a stump vice is a good purchase and fairly compact. Learning to be able to sharpen good both left and right handed is key to quick in the field sharpening imo, I will sharpen both sides at the same time alternating between left and right hand rather than do one side at a time, that way you don't get so fatigued or bored by the time you move onto the other side. Alternativly if your better sharpening with your right do the left side first rather than finish on your weaker side. My top tip is on chains with wear markers use this as your angle guide by running the file parrell with this, file guides are good but you'll become much quicker sharpening by eye. I also try to keep the cutters all the same length that way when it come to doing the depth gauges I use a guide on one to get an idea how many strokes I need then just do each by stroke without a guide. Use 2 hands on the file, grip the tip between thumb and forefinger, hold the handle with your forefinger pointing up the file it makes it easier to guide the file straight.

true, most Stihl technicians I know just whack new carbs on, its cheaper than spending hours fault finding, most times. Probably not the best advice, I could give, but sometimes have a go is good approach. I dismantled the accelerator pump on my 250 only to watch the little brass barrel and spring ping into the distance never to be found again.

Why tie off to another tree? I thought that was more for srt and mechanical devices? Most footlockers i've worked with footlock a doubled line for simplicity. And why do you need to untie it can't you leave it in position till your finished, again most climbers I work with do this as it makes a great access line. Why don't you just pull it over the branch and drop it to the floor then untie it when your down if you must. just curious is all, i know nothing about footlocking other than what I see.

Its hardly rocket science to replace the diaphargms, if anything more needs doing then replace it, again very easy to do.

Why reductions on infected Aesculus, been seeing it a lot recently if its infected they get hammered? Am I missing something? Those reductions look good though and not as severe as some i've seen latly.

They don't do that pump bore thing as far as i'm aware? First i've heard of it. But they will and should replace any faulty carb for free regardless of how old your saw is!!! There is an old post in the chainsaw forum where I bought up my carb problem, went to the dealership I bought my saw from complained about the known carb problem, and they wacked a new one on, warrenty job free of charge no questions asked, they did'nt even check my old one just took my word for it, and my saw was 16 months old. I think Stihl are aware of this problem, although a Stihl tech guy assured me the new carbs are sorted (my carb was a new D type and I can confirm its not sorted).

I was just being a little sarcastic with that comment, but it is also true. Nice pic of a topped Oak in your avatar, goes to show how topping can be appropiate in the right situation.

Well my interpretation of this from having worked with a broad spectrum of climbers is that we are all biomechanically different, there are climbers who can work 15 plus years with no back problems and others develop problems after only a few. Some of this can be down to in-effcient working techniques etc. Thanks for the input, I think the logical step is to visit the doctor first. Then ask round see if I can find a reccomended back specialist.